Tower of old church

List Entry Summary

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Name: Tower of old church

List entry Number: 1005305

Location

The monument may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County: Worcestershire

District: Malvern Hills

District Type: District Authority

Parish: Upton-upon-Severn

National Park: Not applicable to this List entry.

Grade: Not applicable to this List entry.

Date first scheduled: 04-Mar-1953

Date of most recent amendment: Not applicable to this List entry.

Legacy System Information

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System: RSM - OCN

UID: WT 262

Asset Groupings

This list entry does not comprise part of an Asset Grouping. Asset Groupings are not part of the official record but are added later for information.

List entry Description

Summary of Monument

Tower of the Old Church of St Peter and St Paul 73m west of Bridge House.

Reasons for Designation

A parish church is a building, usually of roughly rectangular outline and containing a range of furnishings and fittings appropriate to its use for Christian worship by a secular community, whose members gather in it on Sundays and on the occasion of religious festivals. Children are initiated into the Christian religion at the church's font and the dead are buried in its churchyard. Parish churches were designed for congregational worship and are generally divided into two main parts: the nave, which provides accommodation for the laity, and the chancel, which is the main domain of the priest and contains the principal altar. Most parish churches also possess towers, generally at the west end, but central towers at the crossing of nave and chancel are not uncommon. Most medieval churches were rebuilt and modified on a number of occasions and hence the visible fabric of the church will be of several different dates, with in some cases little fabric of the first church being still easily visible. A significant number of surviving examples are identified to be nationally important. Despite the tower being the only remnant of the Church of St Peter and St Paul, it survives well. The tower is located in a prominent position in the town and represents an important landmark.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 20 May 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records. As such they do not yet have the full descriptions of their modernised counterparts available. Please contact us if you would like further information.

This monument includes a church tower that is the only remaining feature of a medieval parish church. The tower is situated on the north side of Church Street to the south west of the River Severn in Upton-upon-Severn. The church was constructed during the 14th century but the spire, nave and chancel were mostly destroyed during the civil war. The tower is constructed of red sandstone. It is square in plan, constructed in two stages, with two stepped angle buttresses at the west end and a staircase turret in the south east angle. Features of the tower include a geometrical west window and two-light belfry openings with trefoil heads. The east wall has a scar from the roof of the now lost nave. The church was rebuilt in 1756 and an octagonal lantern covered by a cupola was added to the tower.

The foundations of the nave and chancel are located to the east but these are not included in the scheduling as they have not been formally assessed.

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